Covid-19 Pandemic Supports Dail Éireann — 2021-06-15 ============================================================ Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny How many people in counties Carlow and Wexford are receiving support under the employment wage subsidy scheme? What was the number in each county who received support under the scheme in May 2021? How many people in each county have received support under the scheme and its predecessor since March 2020? What has been the expenditure on the scheme in each county over that time? Will the Minister make a statement on that matter? Paschal Donohoe (FG), Dublin Central I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 71, 79 to 81,inclusive, 88, 92, 95, 100, 102, 105, 120, 130 and 384 together. This has been an absolutely vital scheme. I will deal with County Carlow where, to date, under the employment wage subsidy scheme 6,800 employees have participated in the employment wage subsidy scheme. Prior to this, it was the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the number was 8,600. With regard to how much money has been paid out to date under the two programmes, the answer is €82 million, with €38 million on the employment wage subsidy scheme and €44 million on the temporary wage subsidy scheme. Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I thank the Minister. As he said, this is a vital scheme and it is something I believe we need to continue. Throughout Covid we have seen many sectors affected through no one's fault. The Government has played a big part. It is vital that we make sure there is funding for businesses to survive. I ask the Minister to make sure that we deliver. I welcome that 6,800 employees in Carlow have received this because it has been much needed. I see it from speaking with people in business and working people. The money is needed. I ask that we do our best to make sure it continues. Paschal Donohoe (FG), Dublin Central I very much agree with the analysis put forward by the Deputy. This scheme has made a massive difference to workers and employers throughout the country. As the Deputy knows, the Government has made the decision to extend the scheme to the end of this year, in a completely unchanged way for the next quarter and with a view to seeing whether we can make some slight changes to the scheme in the final quarter to begin the process of making it more sustainable. I hope we will be able to change it over time. The scheme has played a role in the protection of many jobs in County Carlow and counties throughout the country. For this reason, we have made the decision to extend the scheme to the end of the year. Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I thank the Minister. I am delighted it has been extended until the end of the year because it is a concern. We are now speaking about the Delta variant. We are very lucky that our vaccine roll-out is strong, and I am getting my second vaccine tomorrow and I welcome it. It is important that the scheme is looked at again at the end of the year because it has been such a help to businesses and employees. I thank the Minister. Paschal Donohoe (FG), Dublin Central I congratulate the Deputy in advance of tomorrow. It is great to know that this week 100,000 citizens from throughout the country will be getting either their first or second jab. This will continue in the weeks and months of this year. In any decision the Government will make regarding supports in future there must be a balance. We cannot keep the supports we have in place in an unchanged format forever but I have never met an employer who wants to be on the scheme. Employers who set up their own companies want to be standing on their own two feet, covering their own bills and covering their own wages and not reliant on the State for help to do it. On the other hand, any change in the scheme that is too sudden or quick will run the risk of creating big challenges for employers and their viability. We are trying to get the balance right and I believe we have done so to date. We will continue to monitor closely how the scheme is operating and whether it offers us any guidance on the design of the scheme in future. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-06-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:23+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-06-15